Event: Blood Harvest Part 4
Blood Harvest Part 4: Hidden Agendas It was pure habit by this time for Graydon to don his cloak that he wore to obscure his identity and keep his weapons out of view. The cowl was deep enough to hide his face with only the glow from his eyes visible in the shadows. That glow was the only thing that gave his species, Antrixian, away to those that encountered him. On Mon Gazza, much like Tatooine before, Graydon wasn’t worried about his identity being found out. Graydon jumped down from his starfighter and began to make his way towards the former sight of the Mad Bantha bar. It was the appointed location where Antrixian and Commonwealth refugees were to go in order to join the Nova Wolves or the Shadow Wolves. The past week had posed interesting dilemmas for Graydon. The first was the rift that had sprung up between Rena and Graydon concerning the birth of Davin. Now that Rena knew the truth about Davin’s lineage, Graydon wasn’t sure if she would still want to be part of his life. His recent Jedi teachings screamed inside him, telling him this was why detachment from emotional connections with others was so important. His Jinsai heritage said otherwise. Without the connection of family to center him, he could be swayed too easily to the quicker, darker path. Right there and then, he didn’t know which way to go. The only thing he could focus on was his duty towards the people that might come to serve beside him. While on Tatooine, he had a vision of Antrixians here on Mon Gazza. He felt it was a future vision with people he had yet to meet. If it was true, he had to follow the Force and be here to help guide them to the new station so they could do what they came to do. If everything went as planned, then the station and Trudaa would be safer for them than anywhere else in the galaxy right now. Walking along the dusty street, Graydon tried to clear his head and focus on what he needed to do. Wary, he scanned the street ahead of him, trying to keep to his normal senses and not abuse the Force. Just off to his right, he caught sight of a person that made him stop in his tracks. The green-skinned Teshanni female was browsing a street vendor cart very casually, not really concerned about those around her or what was going on behind her. Graydon was almost frozen in place, looking at her. For him, he was seeing a ghost in full physical form. The Teshanni, Khalessi, had been killed over three years prior, on a ship filled with blood-thirsty aliens. The same day she died had been the same day that Anna was rescued from that doomed ship. It was essentially the first day that had put Graydon on to the path that he was on today. There was no mistaking her. The same long, wavy, black hair, blue eyes, green skin, and curvy build. Even some of the equipment that she wore was the same as the day that she had died. That should have been Graydon’s first clue that something was afoul. The one sensible thing he did was open himself to the Force to get a sense of her. His shock was further intensified by finding a familiar presence. While he wasn’t as adept with the Force back then, he still had gotten a sense of her when they worked together. Khalessi had, by no means, been meant to be a permanent member of CJ’s crew, back when she owned the freighter, The Charmed One. But Khalessi had still hired on as a deckhand, in between the jobs of her chosen profession of bounty hunting. Having a bounty hunter that close had made Graydon nervous at first, but Khalessi had kept that part of her life separate from her job as a freighter crew member. Graydon could still see the moment that Khalessi had died in his mind. She’d crawled into a small compartment to investigate and there she was speared through her mid-section with the blade-like end of a strange alien tail. Her death was quick, yet it had been meaningless. Graydon had forgotten that the Teshanni were capable of mind powers that mimicked some of the powers of the Force. He quickly realized that she had felt his probe through the Force and was now reaching out with her mind to find out who was seeking her out. As her mental probe grazed his presence, he quickly and instinctively pushed her back with the Force. She looked around, trying to determine who had touched her mind when her eyes settled on Graydon. He half expected her to smile but was disappointed when her eyes simply took him in, her expression staying neutral. He stepped forward to greet her. “Khalessi!” Graydon said as he stopped in front of her. “Yes?” She responded, more in question than anything else. “How is this possible?” “I’m sorry. How is what possible?” She asked back. “You… You’re alive.” Graydon stated. “I’m sorry. You’ve got me confused with someone else, stranger.” “No. I watched you die.” Graydon said. “And then the ship you were on was blown up.” “Okay, crazy guy. If you say so.” Khalessi turned as if to move away. A look of caution crossed her face. Graydon reached through the Force to touch her mind again, this time finding sincere feelings of confusion and fear. But at the same time, she also had a sense of wariness about her. It was almost as if she was expecting something to happen now that he had spoken to her. Taking hold of his lightsaber hidden under his cloak, Graydon opened himself up to the Force just in time to sense the dart that shot towards his back. Activating his weapon, he spun around, narrowing blocking the dart before it could strike him. Tossing the cloak aside to free up his movement, Graydon assumed the guard position, scanning the now running crowd for threats. His eyes came to rest on the familiar form of Mandalorian armor mixed with Clone armor on a female. It was the same Bounty Hunter that had been spared when he had helped Captain Sparrow find his lost ship. Next to her stood another Teshanni dressed in a dark cloak. He recognized her as one of the prisoners rescued from the Imperial prison convoy. It was Terra. But the shock was the man dressed in the pristine white uniform of the Imperial Security Bureau. Colonel Werye. It was the man that CJ, Nessa, and Graydon had had a close run-in with while tracking down Danara’s true identity on Elorion. “Lord Strykia.” Colonel Maxus Werye said as he stepped forward. “I am surprised that I would actually find you here.” “What do you want?” Graydon spat. “You, of course.” Werye had gotten within twenty meters when Graydon leveled his blade at the man. “I want to talk.” “We don’t have much to talk about, Imperial.” “Yes we do. There’s the matter of why you are here and not on Antrixies.” Werye said, eyeing the glowing blade of Graydon’s lightsaber. “I think you know that I’m not the same person that’s on Antrixies.” Graydon said. He’d opened himself up to the Force now, allowing him to focus on Khalessi and the other two females, along with Werye. “I do. I also know that you pose a serious threat to the stability of your homeworld.” Werye locked eyes on Graydon. “Plans have been in the works for far too long to have you disrupt them.” “The Imperials are the threat to my home. I intend to remedy that.” Graydon said, ready to both strike or defend against the bounty hunters or the Colonel. His focus was sharply on his four opponents. So much, however, that he failed to sense the Drak warrior that launched the stun net onto him from above. With a cry of surprise, Graydon couldn’t manage to stay on his feet as the stun net connected with him. Even though the lightsaber quickly burned through several strands and disrupted the capture device, it had done enough to render Graydon unconscious. Werye strode over and took the lightsaber in hand, deactivating it. *** After two weeks, CJ couldn’t take it anymore. While the rest of her crew was behind on Eidolon Station, securing their new home now above Trudaa, she chose to sneak away, attempting to track Graydon down. Her concern didn’t get any better either when Anna had approached her, full of worry. So gathering the ten year old up, along with Arfee, CJ snuck away in the early hours, leaving Bas and Shalranna behind. It was only by pure bad luck that Robb Stark, one of the Shadow Wardens, had discovered her sneaking away and followed in one of the Antrixian fighters. After he had heard her pleas to go and search for Graydon, Robb had committed to coming along to help. It was what the Shadow Wardens had initially been formed to do anyway. Their first choice of places to start looking had been Mon Gazza. It proved to be the one and only place they needed to go. CJ felt like she had just been punched in the stomach. She stared blankly ahead, not really seeing the small holo-form of Robb’s face hovering over the communications projector in the cockpit of the Lightning’s Ride. “Captain?” Robb’s voice came. It sounded like it was light years away to CJ. Suddenly, a hand on CJ’s shoulder snapped her back to reality. “I don’t know, Robb.” CJ answered. She felt numb. Robb had just jumped back out from Mon Gazza and reported that he had found Graydon’s fighter there, along with the report that a merchant had watched Graydon be captured by three bounty hunters and an Imperial officer. That had been a week ago. “The shopkeeper said there was a squad of Draks with them too. Do I need to go find Katana?” “Alright, yes. Go get her.” CJ said. She finally looked over and found Anna standing next to her. There was the second feeling of getting punched in the gut. “Link Blade’s astromech to the Ride and I’ll jump it back home. You need to hurry though. I’ll round up everyone else back at the station so we can figure this all out.” With that, CJ closed the comm channel. “Don’t worry, CJ.” Anna said. “He’s alright.” CJ just stared at the ten year old standing next to her. Anna was calm and serene, as always. For CJ, it felt like a massive surge of pressure was building up under every part of her skin, ready to explode. Her gut was twisted into an incredibly tight knot. The gravity of the whole situation was weighing down on her. “How can you say that?” CJ anxiety and tears right on the surface. “Easy.” Anna responded. “I can sense him. He’s a long ways away, but he’s okay.” “Can you tell where he is?” CJ asked excitedly, hoping for a miracle. “Kinda.” Anna responded, turning to look back towards the rear of the ship. “He’s back that way.” “If you can sense him, then you point us in the right direction. Katana can do the same thing!” CJ felt some of her anxiety lift. “If aunty Allyson, Arina, Rashara and I do it together, we could find him. But it’ll be tough.” “Okay, kiddo. You are that man’s lifeline right now. Let’s get back and round everyone up. I have the feeling we’re going to need them. *** Allyson was staring out the veiwport of the Antrixian cruiser, Freedom, as the ship slowly drifted near the expansive Mutara Nebula. It wasn’t much different than the Maridis Nebula, except in color. She was here, with her ship and crew as part of the Nova Wolves, helping elements of the Cabrero pirates making a stopover on Darthin. It was more of a show of unity than an actual duty or job. Since Hallyy Cabrero helped out the Nova Wolves and Shadow Wolves, she felt inclined to return the favor. But sitting out here, she was bored. She easily began to daydream as she gazed out into space. Somewhere, she felt a distant tremor in her being. A year ago, she might have chalked it up to something she had eaten. Now, however, she recognized it as something in the Force. It was a disturbance in the Force. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was though. Her daydream didn’t last long however. “Lady Katana!” One of the crew shouted. “Hyperspace reversion off our port bow.” Allyson snapped out of her distraction and made her way over to the sensor consoles. “What is it?” She asked as she approached. “Shoto-class fighter. Looks like your brother sent a messenger.” Continue Reading Category:Events